530 High Schools Hit Jackpot on Test Scores

State and local school officials have tried exhortation, regulation and reform to improve test scores in the high schools, but with little effect.

This year, they have met success with a more direct approach--giving money to schools that do better.

The California Department of Education said Thursday that 530 high schools--nearly half of those in the state--won bonus money for improving their scores on the state’s basic skills test among high school seniors.

The December test, which covers reading, math, writing and spelling, has often been criticized by educators and students as meaningless. Since seniors do not receive individual scores, many skipped taking the exam.

This year, however, the Legislature set aside $14.4 million in bonus money to be distributed to schools that show improvement on the test, and state education officials also hurried to release the scores before the seniors graduated.

“The kids really tried this year,” said Garfield High School Principal Henry Gradillas, whose school won $105,819, the most in the Los Angeles Unifed School District. “The cash was a good motivator. I also think they are proud of their school and wanted to make a good showing.”

Math Scores

Garfield High, a school in East Los Angeles that enrolls mostly Latino students, has also gained attention in recent years because of the large number of its students who, working with math teacher Jaime Escalante, have scored well on college-level tests in algebra and calculus.

“We have challenged these kids to take a strong curriculum, so they are prepared to do well on these tests,” Gradillas said. “We’re not here to produce minimum-wage workers.”

Rowland High School, east of Los Angeles near the City of Industry, won the state’s biggest bonus--$140,818--and nearby Nogales High School in La Puente won $109,291.

“We’ve been working on our academic program for a few years now, and it’s finally begun to pay off--in a big way,” said Tom Aney, principal of Rowland High. “Before, the attitude about this test was ‘So what?’ This year, we asked them to take it seriously.”

Under the state guidelines, the schools are required to set up a committee of teachers, parents and students to make recommendations on how to spend the money. The funds can go for almost anything other than hiring full-time staff members.

Bonus winners are already getting plenty of recommendations.

At Garfield, Gradillas said the students were talking about buying computers and word processors. Others wanted to set up a scholarship fund, and another group had suggested using the money to defray the cost of the school yearbook.

Interest in Computers

At Rowland, Aney said the seniors were also interested in buying computers for the school or in taking an “educational field trip.”

“We had some seniors suggest that we put a seal on their diplomas to recognize them for what they have done. I think they are just proud of their accomplishment,” he said.

Also proud of the accomplishment was Paul Possemato, director of the senior high division in the Los Angeles district, who usually has to answer questions about the low scores in the city schools.

This time, however, 32 regular high schools and 10 continuation schools in the city won a total of $1.5 million for getting higher scores.

“Maybe it’s a statistical fluke,” Possemato joked.

More seriously, he attributed the improved scores to a “conscientious effort to work on the language problem and reading. I also think the teachers and the principals did a real motivation job” to get students interested in the test.

Qualifying Rules

To qualify for a bonus, at least 93% of the seniors had to take the exam. Last year, only 79% of the students statewide showed up for the test. This year, the percentage jumped up to 91%.

Sen. Leroy Greene (D-Carmichael), sponsor of the “educational incentive” law, said he had earlier pushed a variety of education bills to deal with problems in the schools by adding financing to programs or changing their structure or operation. Nevertheless, he noted, high school test scores steadily declined.

This time, he said, he wanted the schools to get more funds for showing results rather than because they had problems.

Earlier this month, state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig noted that this year’s scores suddenly took their biggest jump in decade.

MONEY FOR SCHOOLS These are high schools in Los Angeles County that have been designated to receive grants under the Education Improvement Incentive Program.

SCHOOL DISTRICT AWARD Cerritos ABC $71,845 Whitney ABC 11,931 Richard Gahr ABC 14,391 Antelope Valley Antelope Valley 19,447 Palmdale Antelope Valley 32,003 Quartz Hill Antelope Valley 27,812 Arcadia Arcadia 40,403 Gladstone Azusa 9,217 Baldwin Park Baldwin Park 70,566 Mayfair Bellflower 10,821 Beverly Hills Beverly Hills 46,156 Hawthorne Centinela Valley 24,132 Charter Oak Charter Oak 3,571 San Antonio Claremont 5,243 Northview Covina-Valley 18,632 Culver City Culver City 18,584 Sunrise Culver City 4,400 Warren Downey 46,626 Duarte Duarte 19,485 El Monte El Monte Union 35,298 Mountain View El Monte Union 17,551 Rosemead El Monte Union 23,811 Daily (Allan F.) Glendale 23,907 Hoover Glendale 50,814 La Puente La Puente 44,778 Los Altos High La Puente 46,257 Glen A. Wilson La Puente 46,917 Inglewood Inglewood 49,312 Hillcrest Inglewood 3,792 La Canada La Canada 1,177 Indian Hills Las Virgenes 3,341 Young (Whitney) Los Angeles 3,947 Angel’s Gate Los Angeles 670 Bell Los Angeles 75,173 Belmont Los Angeles 33,507 Birmingham Los Angeles 13,951 Westside Alternative Los Angeles 457 Earhart Los Angeles 3,750 Einstein Los Angeles 7,988 Leonis Los Angeles 11,200 Owensmouth Los Angeles 1,894 Carson High Los Angeles 70,294 West Granada Los Angeles 4,163 Independence Los Angeles 3,247 Chatsworth Los Angeles 67,037 Ellington Los Angeles 111 Crenshaw Los Angeles 84,211 Thoreau Los Angeles 3,200 El Camino Real Los Angeles 57,687 Los Angeles C E S Los Angeles 11,354 Fairfax High Los Angeles 28,789 Hamilton Humanities Los Angeles 1,789 Francis Polytechnic Los Angeles 12,504 Los Angeles High Los Angeles 4,135 San Fernando Los Angeles 19,710 John C. Fremont Los Angeles 41,774 Van Nuys Math & Sci Los Angeles 14,547 Narbonne Math & Sci Los Angeles 19,809 Washington Los Angeles 9,410 Gardena Los Angeles 79,372 Garfield Los Angeles 105,819 U.S. Grant Los Angeles 64,874 Hollywood Los Angeles 1,554 Huntington Park Los Angeles 36,137 Jefferson Los Angeles 5,704 Jordan Los Angeles 37,726 James Monroe Los Angeles 31,991 Narbonne Los Angeles 70,546 Palisades Los Angeles 61,263 Reseda Los Angeles 69,849 San Fernando Los Angeles 13,270 San Pedro Los Angeles 56,982 South Gate Los Angeles 63,681 Sylmar Los Angeles 15,052 Wm. H. Taft Los Angeles 37,171 University Los Angeles 27,026 Venice Los Angeles 15,530 Verdugo Hills Los Angeles 71,416 Washington Prep Los Angeles 42,494 Woodrow Wilson Los Angeles 26,026 John F. Kennedy Los Angeles 33,253 Monrovia Monrovia 57,440 Bell Gardens Montebello 27,893 John Glenn La Mirada 29,703 La Mirada La Mirada 12,029 Norwalk La Mirada 27,054 Blair Pasadena 4,563 Marshall Pasadena 35,671 John Muir Pasadena 55,261 Pasadena Pasadena 21,290 Park West Pomona 5,535 Nogales Rowland 109,291 Rowland Rowland 140,818 San Marino San Marino 8,001 Santa Monica Santa Monica 44,581 Redondo Union South Bay Union 110,129 So. Pasadena South Pasadena 24,839 Temple City Temple City 45,183 North Torrance Torrance 14,703 South Torrance 80,776 Canyon W.S. Hart Union 73,214 Wm.S. Hart W.S. Hart Union 27,062 Bowman W.S. Hart Union 2,803 Walnut Walnut Valley 42,922 Coronado West Covina 765